Fairtax4me

Aftermarket axles are notorious for being poor quality. A flashing CEL generally indicates the engine is misfiring, not likely to be anything related to the axle. How old are the spark plugs and wires?

You can put in an EJ25D from a 96-99 Legacy or 98 Forester. Most people swap the other way (25D to 22E) due to head gasket and bearing failures in the 25D. You will lose some bottom end torque with the 25D, and may need to run premium gas for a 96 or early 97. IIRC mid 97 they changed the piston design so it could run on mid grade. Another option if you're looking for some extra oomph is a 22E with a set of Delta cams.

How many miles are on this engine? Unless you know you can install the new rear main perfectly straight and perfectly in the same spot as the old one, don't mess with it. They tend to go 250-300k without even any seepage. Don't want to go overboard with RTV. A light smear is really all it takes. The stuff that gets squeezed out doesn't help it seal any better, it just makes a mess and lets chunks of RTV fall off into the oil pan to get stuck in the pickup screen. You can use either the anaerobic or RTV on the separator plate. On the new stamped steel plates RTV tends to work better because torquing the screws down can cause slight gaps to open between the block and plate between the screws. That slight gap can be wider than what anaerobic sealant needs in order to cure properly. On the aluminum plates you can use either. The wrist pin cover can be done any way you please. RTV, O-ring, both, doesn't really matter as long as you get the sealing surface clean and dry before applying.

Pretty sure there is a shoulder inside the snout that the seal buts against. Usually you can press those in most of the way by hand just by wiping some fresh ATF on the outer circumference of the seal. Finish tapping it in with a dull punch or 1/4" drive socket extension.

2000-2004 Outback. Has to be from an Outback. A plain legacy drive shaft could be used, but you'll have to get longer bolts and spacers for the carrier bracket to maintain the correct shaft angles.

Replace the seal. Once that dirt around the seal gets in it eats the seal up. Doesn't matter how careful you are cleaning it and getting it put back in, that seal will fail. Might be 6 months, might only be 10 minutes. $15 is cheap insurance. There is a circlip in there that often gets bent and will prevent the converter from sliding back on all the way. You need to fish the circlip out and install it back on the converter tube before installing the converter.

Does it have EGR? A loose fitting on the EGR tube could make a tap sound from the back of the head.

Best thing you can probably do is get a set of heavy duty king springs from Primitive Racing. They sell both raised height and standard height. IIRC they're around $250 per set. Or get all 4 corners for $450ish. They stiffen up the ride quite a bit, but are great for extra load capacity.

X2 on Exedy Clutch kit. Last one I got was on Amazon I think for under $150 IIRC. Be careful of some listings as they may put an Exedy disc with a cheaper pressure plate and cheap bearings. For the 2.2, Exedy clutch kit is P/N 15010.

Do the timing marks on all three sprockets line up after rotating the engine? Only need to turn the crank twice. If the marks line up its good to go.

Auto trans or manual? Have you disassembled the rocker shaft and made sure there are no obstructions in the oil feed port in the shaft? Any other work done to the block? Oil pump resealed? Oil pan removed? Rear piston drivers side is number 4.

Use a wrench or breaker bar and turn slowly. Don't fear bending valves. When the cam snaps over like that its because the valve springs are pushing back and the valves are closing.

Gotta love those kinda people. Cut all the wires and crimp connector them back together! And for what reason!?! Probably figured they could just cut the MAF out entirely and make it tight yo! Then found out it wouldn't run worth a hoot without the MAF, then didn't have enough sense to be able to fix it. Kudos to you for having the spirit to properly repair this poor abused Subaru!

Have you checked the fluid? How long has it been making noise?

Cross-posted. If you already swapped the MAF it's probably a wire issue. Might make sure its getting 12v and ground.

Put the phase 1 heads and intake on the phase 2 block.

The sheilding for the signal wire is hanging out in the open. Make sure that is grounded (checking with a meter should show that). Also, there's a screw missing from the side. I know (because I've taken a few of these apart) that removing those screws gets you access to nothing, because the terminals in that part are molded in. They go in and bend downward to meet the pins from the PCB. The only thing you accomplish by trying to forcibly remove that side connector, is breaking the solder joints on the pins. So, swap the MAF if you have a spare. If not, cut the silicone around the top, pry the top up, and resolder the pins if they're broken.

Take some white paint and make a mark across both sections of the pulley. Start the engine and see if the marks separate. That will tell you if the inner and outer portions of the pulley have separated.

Two problems with the harmonic balancers on these. One is the outer section of the balancer comes loose from the rubber cushion and will wobble off of the center section. Replace the pulley and you're good to go. Other problem is if the bolt in the center comes loose. Generally only happens after someone has done a timing belt job or pulley replacement, and didn't get the center bolt torqued tight enough. Usually ends up chewing up the keyway slot in the crankshaft, and can cause the timing sprocket to come loose and the timing belt skips. That takes some effort to fix because you generally have to get the mangled key stock out, file/grind down any rough edges on the crankshaft snout, and then get everything lined up again properly with a new key stock. Can require replacing the timing sprocket if the front face gets worn. Usually requires replacing the harmonic balancer because the center hole gets pretty chewed up. Sometimes you need a new bolt as well. Tighten the new bolt to about 140ft lbs.

That mileage the input shaft bearing in the trans may be worn. These transmissions tend to make some noise anyway, but if you listen with it at idle, see if you can hear a whine or groan or maybe a bit of rattle from the trans in Neutral. Press the clutch pedal down and see if it goes away, then comes back when you release it. AWD is great in snow. Put some dedicated snow tires on it and nothing will keep it from going where you want to go, and stopping when you want to stop.

You have to have both wheels off the ground at the same time. Otherwise the difference in weight on the suspension will not allow you to remove the old links. They can be a pain if you live in an area where rust is an issue. Also, those greaseable replacements won't last two years. They tend to be the lowest quality the parts suppliers can get their hands on.

Only other reason I would think of for excessive oil in one cylinder is a damaged valve stem seal. You're gonna see oil in the intake manifold because of the way the PCV system works. When you installed the pan did you make sure to put the funny square o-ring on the tube in the back corner? Using the wrong O-ring or no o-ring there will lead to excessive oil consumption but it's generally more like 1 quart in a thousand miles. Wrong rings sounds like your culprit though. For future reference, NPR (Nippon Piston Ring) makes the factory stuff for Subaru. DNJ may be fine but IMO if you're that far into the engine there's no reason to buy inexpensive rings just to save $20. Good luck!

To keep the driver/passenger from slinging a backpack/grocery bags/purse/etc across the console and knocking the trans out of park and letting the car roll away while said person is trying to get in and sit down. Don't assume people actually USE the parking brake, because most people don't.

I had a Ford ranger with a hydraulic clutch that felt like trying to crush a brick. After driving that, if I got in my 96 I couldn't even feel the cable clutch because it was so light compared to the truck. Kinda comparing apples to grapes though. I've driven quite a few Subaru clutches and never noticed any real difference between the hydraulic and cable. Its possible someone tampered with the clutch on your previous car to make it stiffer to push. Maybe they installed a heavy return spring on the pedal or removed it for some reason and installed it backwards. Is the clutch noticeably more difficult to push in your 96 compared to the 99 you mentioned?

You lose the hill holder with the hydraulic clutch. Hydraulic clutch release lever is different, and so is the pivot point inside the trans. The hole is already there and drilled, you just have to move the pivot stud, but that requires separating the engine and trans to get to. Pivot point difference is not due to final drive 3.90/4.11, difference is between hydraulic and cable actuation. either one can be made to work on either trans.